Florida college fires Chinese professor under state’s ‘countries of concern’ law

The New College of Florida has fired a Chinese language professor under a state law that restricts Florida’s public universities from hiring individuals they deem to be from “countries of concern”.

On Friday, Suncoast Searchlight reported the firing of Kevin Wang, a professor who has sought asylum in the US and is authorized to work in the country. According to the outlet, Wang had been teaching classes in Chinese language and culture for nearly two years when he was fired on 12 March.

According to his dismissal letter, which Suncoast Searchlight reviewed, the New College of Florida’s decision to terminate Wang’s contract was “not based on any misconduct and does not constitute a dismissal for cause or disciplinary action”.

Instead, the college cited state law SB 846 which states that schools “may not accept any grant from or participate in any agreement with any college or university based in a foreign country of concern” without the approval from the board of governors, Suncoast Searchlight reports.

According to the law, the so-called “countries of concern” include China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela and Syria.

The law, which went into effect in July 2023, also prevents state universities from entering into partnerships with “any person who is domiciled in a foreign country of concern and is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States”.

Suncoast Searchlight reports that Wang, who was hired by the New College of Florida three weeks after the state law went into effect, said that before he came to the US in May 2022, he was a university professor in China.

“I faced political repression from the Chinese Communist Party for criticizing Xi Jinping and the CCP’s domestic and foreign policies, resulting in the loss of my teaching position and my freedom to teach, research, and express myself in China,” Wang told the outlet.

“I never expected to face such a distressing experience after escaping persecution from the CCP in China, only to encounter a somewhat similar situation at New College in the United States,” he added.

According to Wang, he is preparing to leave Florida but will remain in the US as he continues his pursuit of his asylum bid.

“As an adjunct, I do not have much time or energy to delve deeply into this matter …but I truly hope that such interference undermining academic freedom will not occur again in a place that claims to be a ‘beacon of democracy’,” Wang told Suncoast Searchlight.

As part of Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis’s culture wars against “wokeness” across various institutions including universities, the New College of Florida – a historically liberal arts school – has in recent months hired ideologically aligned rightwing faculty and staff for various positions.

In November, the university reinstated a course on “wokeness” taught by Andrew Doyle, a British comedian and historian whose course described “wokeness” as a “kind of cult” with “disciples … [who] have insinuated themselves into all of our major institutions”.

Meanwhile, last September, the college hosted Steve Sailer, who has been described as a “white supremacist”, at a public event on how “periods of heightened activism correlated with increased crime rates”.